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Translating parent comment and playing devil's advocate: What did happen in the western world that made parents not allowing their kids to wander around? He p

Translating parent comment and playing devil's advocate: What did happen in the western world that made parents not allowing their kids to wander around? He proposed one explanation in a contrived way: leftist politics. Instead of mindless downvoting, how would you explain it?

DanBC 9y ago
> Instead of mindless downvoting, how would you explain it? Or how about don't feed the trolls?
WillPostForFood 9y ago
General increase in risk aversion. Same reason there are seat belt laws, helmet laws, firecrackers are illegal, you have to take your shoes off to get on a plane, lawn darts are banned, and people fear second hand smoke. To tie it back to the parent comment, there is data that shows more individualistic people take more risks, so perhaps it is tied to the decline of individualism, and religion. Regarding kids specifically, people use to have more, so they would learn that they are pretty durable after raising a few. When you only have one, all your eggs are in one basket, so there is a greater tendency to overprotect.
- galfarragem 9y ago
  Doesn't your explanation corroborate the parent comment? Individualism and traditional families are more correlated with right-wing policies.
  - WillPostForFood 9y ago
    Parent, or parent-parent? I'd put "safety" laws on the left side of the political spectrum, so decline in individualism & religion would correlate to more safety laws.
- mathw 9y ago
  Aren't individualism and religion opposing philosophies? Most religions demand conformity.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - WillPostForFood 9y ago
    Conformity and individualism aren't exactly the same, though there is clearly overlap. Religious people might conform more in terms of things like dress, but at the same time be more open to individual rights. Go back to Declaration of Independence and the idea mean are "endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights." It's not a coincidence that Communism is an atheistic political philosophy.
icebraining 9y ago
Plenty of countries in Europe are way more leftist than the US, yet we still have kids wandering around. Seems like a very poor correlation.
- Chris2048 9y ago
  Which ones are you thinking about?
  - galfarragem 9y ago
    According to my point of view, in Western Europe urban areas only the poor kids wander around and just because their parents don't afford to control them. However in Eastern Europe, nowadays not correlated with leftist policies, kids wander around..
    - icebraining 9y ago
      Do or did you live in Western Europe? My experience may not extend to most countries, so I'm curious to know where you've seen that.
      - deleted 9y ago
        [deleted]
      - deleted 9y ago
        [deleted]
    - lawl 9y ago
      > in Western Europe cityscapes only the poor kids wander around and just because their parents don't afford to control them wat? Well, since I can only speak for the country I grew up in. Switzerland: Definitely not the case. Letting kids wander around alone is the norm here, and no, that's not because everyone is poor.
  - icebraining 9y ago
    I know mostly in Portugal and Spain, but I've lived in Brussels for a few months and saw plenty of kids walking to school as well. I seem to remember the same in Budapest, but it was a short stay.

DanBC 9y ago

> Instead of mindless downvoting, how would you explain it? Or how about don't feed the trolls?

WillPostForFood 9y ago

General increase in risk aversion. Same reason there are seat belt laws, helmet laws, firecrackers are illegal, you have to take your shoes off to get on a plane, lawn darts are banned, and people fear second hand smoke. To tie it back to the parent comment, there is data that shows more individualistic people take more risks, so perhaps it is tied to the decline of individualism, and religion. Regarding kids specifically, people use to have more, so they would learn that they are pretty durable after raising a few. When you only have one, all your eggs are in one basket, so there is a greater tendency to overprotect.

galfarragem 9y ago
Doesn't your explanation corroborate the parent comment? Individualism and traditional families are more correlated with right-wing policies.
- WillPostForFood 9y ago
  Parent, or parent-parent? I'd put "safety" laws on the left side of the political spectrum, so decline in individualism & religion would correlate to more safety laws.
mathw 9y ago
Aren't individualism and religion opposing philosophies? Most religions demand conformity.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- WillPostForFood 9y ago
  Conformity and individualism aren't exactly the same, though there is clearly overlap. Religious people might conform more in terms of things like dress, but at the same time be more open to individual rights. Go back to Declaration of Independence and the idea mean are "endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights." It's not a coincidence that Communism is an atheistic political philosophy.

icebraining 9y ago

Plenty of countries in Europe are way more leftist than the US, yet we still have kids wandering around. Seems like a very poor correlation.

Chris2048 9y ago
Which ones are you thinking about?
- galfarragem 9y ago
  According to my point of view, in Western Europe urban areas only the poor kids wander around and just because their parents don't afford to control them. However in Eastern Europe, nowadays not correlated with leftist policies, kids wander around..
  - icebraining 9y ago
    Do or did you live in Western Europe? My experience may not extend to most countries, so I'm curious to know where you've seen that.
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
  - lawl 9y ago
    > in Western Europe cityscapes only the poor kids wander around and just because their parents don't afford to control them wat? Well, since I can only speak for the country I grew up in. Switzerland: Definitely not the case. Letting kids wander around alone is the norm here, and no, that's not because everyone is poor.
- icebraining 9y ago
  I know mostly in Portugal and Spain, but I've lived in Brussels for a few months and saw plenty of kids walking to school as well. I seem to remember the same in Budapest, but it was a short stay.